Some people think a guitar that’s been “played in” sounds quite different from a new one. Somehow the accumulated vibrations affect the wood itself, making it sound “more open”, warmer, brighter, louder, or just plain better.
I don’t know if this is true, but I was curious to find out. I didn’t like the idea of waiting months or years for this to happen, so I built a little tool to vibrate my guitar while I’m sleeping, to do it easily, and to do it for free. Maybe you’d like to try it too.
The Guitar Vibrator Tool
The way this works is pretty simple: put your guitar close to a computer/phone/speaker that’s playing one of these sound files, wait several days, and see if it makes your guitar sound better. Simple!
Use Guitar Vibrator via Spotify…
Use Guitar Vibrator on Apple Music…
The theory is that your guitar’s strings will resonate with the sound source if you position it well. The small string vibrations then spread throughout the instrument, mimicking the physical effect of actually playing it. Let the Guitar Vibrator run long enough and you’ll get a “played in” guitar in way less time than normal. That’s the theory!
I don’t know how long to let a guitar vibrate, so I made this tool for using days or weeks on end. Maybe I’ll discover a recommended vibration protocol later, but presumably it’ll be hard to find a reliable guideline as there will be unique variables for every instrument (guitar body shape, type of wood, volume of sound source, age of guitar, etc.).
Ideally the guitar should be free to vibrate, hung from a headstock hook or otherwise propped up for free resonance. The ideal volume for you to use for vibrating your guitar is probably more limited by your domestic situation than anything based on acoustic theory. Probably, the louder the sound source, the faster the effect will be.
You’ll notice there’s no cost to try this. Even if it doesn’t do anything, you’ll still have all your $s for other gear ideas. If it does work, great! Tell other guitarists and soon we’ll make every guitar on Earth sound 2% better. If not, neither you nor I will have lost anything, except perhaps some household peace and/or respect from our families 🙂
The Guitar Vibrator Sound Source
Assuming this will work at all (“playing in” a guitar by vibrating it), the properties of the sound source likely matters quite a bit. This might be a very interesting rabbit hole for later on, one I’ll explore if the initial trials work.Â
To get started, just use the playlists in the Spotify & Apple Music players above. It’s my #1 option and the best place to start.
Later, if you want more options or to vibrate more notes than just open position, see this page: Advanced Vibrations. I made a bunch of extra sound sources with varied waveforms for the most adventurous guitar fans.
Try It!
Hopefully you find this easy enough to use. If it magically transforms your guitar into a better version of itself, hooray! My time building this tool will not have been in vain.